If the sensitive data that your business holds was lost or stolen, it would be a huge disaster, wouldn’t it?

That’s to say nothing of the damage caused to your operation by a spread of a system wide virus or, worse, a fire at your office that totally destroys everything.

Could your business really recover from such a catastrophe without taking a serious hit to your finances?

Could you bounce back without suffering irrevocable harm to your reputation?

If you don’t already have some kind of business continuity plan in place, chances are you’re shaking your head right now and answering with a worrying yet resounding NO.

Luckily for you, there is some good news:

An IT disaster doesn’t have to be the deathknell of your company.

With sufficient planning and failsafe procedures in place, you can limit the disruptions caused by unexpected data theft, security breaches or hardware malfunctions.

You can also avoid the kind of far-reaching consequences of such disasters that have put countless companies out of business.

In today’s post, the business continuity experts at Pacific Infotech explain just why an IT disaster recovery plan is so vital to your business, and how to get started in securing your mission-critical technology against unforeseen emergencies.

What Counts as a Disaster?

In this sense, a disaster could be any of these:

A flood or fire at your physical location

Robbery and theft

Security breaches

Hardware failures.

You can do everything you can to protect your office, your hardware, and your data, but sometimes, these things do happen unexpectedly, so you need to be prepared.

That’s where disaster recovery comes into play.

What is an IT Disaster Recovery Plan?

Here’s the simple answer:

IT disaster recovery encompasses everything your IT specialist will do to limit the impact of any disasters affecting:

Hardware

Software

Customer data

Other sensitive information.

Basically:

If it allows your business to recover and keep operating without disruption when faced with a threat, it’s part of IT disaster.

Here’s something else you need to know:

Your Recovery Solution Will be as Unique as Your Business

Every organisation has their own unique needs, so the actual processes, plans and procedures in place for your company will be different than those of your neighbour.

That said, there are a few fundamentals that are vital to all recovery solutions. Let’s look at each one in turn, shall we?

If You Only Do One Thing to Protect Your Business Today, Make it This:

There’s no two ways about it:

A good business continuity strategy is simply essential if your company is going to avoid going the way of the thousands of businesses who are forced to close after a data security breach.

What is it?

In a nutshell, a business continuity strategy, the blueprint which outlines the exact steps your business IT specialists will take in the event of an emergency.

If you haven’t already got one, you need to get a continuity plan in place, ASAP.

While you’re at it, there’s one more thing you need to seriously invest in.

We’ll reveal that secret below.

The Secret to Successful Business Continuity Strategies:

Your data is the most valuable asset your business owns. So you need to protect it at all costs.

The consequences of failing to meet the terms of the Data Protection Act don’t bare thinking about, least of all because of the irreversible damage it could to your reputation.

A single security breach or act of data theft destroys all the trust that customers have placed in your organisation, and we’re literally not exaggerating when we say that so many businesses never bounce back from that.

So what can you do?

For starters, invest in secure, offsite data storage with daily backups. Make sure these backups are also stored at a third-party location.

If there’s a hardware failure, a natural disaster, or some other catastrophe at your physical location, all it takes is to access your offsite data and get up and running again.

Need a bespoke IT disaster recovery plan for your business? Need advice on choosing a secure, affordable offsite data backup solution? Talk to the business continuity experts at Pacific Infotech today. Contact us online to arrange your free consultation, or call now on 020 313 76707.